O’Bannon Sets Goal: Final Four for UCLA : College basketball: Junior forward will be a key to the season, which starts today against Loyola Marymount.

It has been a brief, but certainly not boring, basketball career at UCLA for Ed O’Bannon, who at times in the last two years has worn a brace when he wrecked his knee, a mask when he broke his nose, and, most recently, a soft cast when he sprained his wrist. In the UCLA media guide, O’Bannon’s photograph is an X-ray.

That’s not really true, but after everything he has been through, the broken bones, torn ligaments and missed games, it ought to be noted that O’Bannon is not only healthy but uninjured, and that he has concluded that it is time to start putting the hurt on somebody else.

When UCLA opens its season today at Pauley Pavilion against Loyola Marymount, O’Bannon will be cast in something new, the role of leader--albeit a quiet one, intent on keeping the Bruins on track for reaching their avowed goal by April.

Would you believe the Final Four?

“I can’t see us doing any less than that,” said O’Bannon, now a junior. “Personally, I don’t care what the critics say. I don’t care how long it’s been since we’ve been there (1980). I do know how talented our team is.

“As long as we play hard and as long as we play with intensity, we’ll be fine. We’ve worked hard, and I think UCLA is due. We’re excited about playing. And if it turns out we don’t make the Final Four, fine, just as long as we have done the best we could.”

If UCLA expects to come anywhere close to the Final Four, O’Bannon is going to have to come up with the same numbers he put up last season. The 6-foot-8 forward from Artesia averaged 16.7 points, shot 53.9% and led the team in rebounding, averaging seven.

He played 33 games and seemed completely recovered from the devastating knee injury he suffered Oct. 9, 1990, when the major stabilizing ligament in his left knee was torn during a pickup game. O’Bannon underwent five hours of surgery nine days later, doctors replacing the ligament with an Achilles’ tendon from a cadaver.

O’Bannon sat out all of what would have been his freshman season. He returned to the court for the 11th game of the 1991-92 season, 15 months after his surgery, and averaged 3.6 points in 23 games.

Last season, despite having to wear a mask for several games to protect his broken nose, O’Bannon finished strong.

He was voted to the All-Pacific 10 Conference first team, then later joined the gold-medal U.S. team for the World University games at Buffalo, N.Y. O’Bannon suffered a sprained right wrist during a game when he went up for a dunk, got knocked off balance and landed awkwardly as he tried to break his fall.

Then he aggravated the injury on a similar play at UCLA Fan Appreciation Day earlier this month. After the experience with his knee, O’Bannon was able to appreciate his wrist injury being a relatively minor one.

“I’m not saying it didn’t hurt, but it was just a typical basketball injury,” he said. “I said to myself, I didn’t think there’s anything that can be as bad as my knee injury.”

The other good news is that O’Bannon shoots left-handed. Still more good news is that there’s not a thing wrong with his knee.

“Actually, the only time I think about it is when people ask me,” he said.

Now, O’Bannon is being asked about playing on the same front line with his brother, Charles; if Shon Tarver can score the way he did last season, how tall Tyus Edney really is, if the Killer Z’s--Rodney Zimmerman and George Zidek--can combine to shore up the center position, and if UCLA is for real.

All in due time, said O’Bannon, who intends to do his part to make it happen.

“We’ve got Rodney and Shon as captains, so they’re leaders, but I’m comfortable doing that, too,” he said. “They are asking me to help lead the team. But as far as my leading is concerned, I don’t have to lead by words, just (by) playing hard and making the effort.”

It is Coach Jim Harrick’s wish that much of O’Bannon’s leading be done on the backboards. If the Bruins are going to run as they hope to, they need to be more aggressive in getting defensive rebounds.

“It’s the one area that I’ve seen in our practice sessions that we just haven’t been good at,” Harrick said. “We won’t be running if we aren’t rebounding, and we need Ed. I think Ed’s going to be a lot better player this year at most everything, but what we really need is for him to defend, rebound and run the floor. Actually, that’s the only way this team can succeed--if five guys do a little bit of everything.”

In any event, whatever kind of team UCLA will become, whether a trip to Charlotte, N.C., and the Final Four needs to be booked, the clues are going to start being dropped today at Pauley.

“It’s the first step,” O’Bannon said. “And we need to win. I’m not thinking about sending out messages or anything. We just have to worry about ourselves. If we don’t play as well as we are capable of, maybe we should send a message to ourselves.”

* YOUTH MOVEMENT

George Raveling’s best recruiting class raises hopes as the Trojans open today against Pennsylvania. C10